I am looking at a Swiss watch marketed in the USA by Oskamp. The dial is marked C. Oskamp, Cincinnati. The inside of the front cover has presentation date of 1877 and a makers mark C.O in a small rectangle, warranted 18K. The dust cover is marked as follows: straight line lever, full jeweled, C.Oskamp, Cincinnati. O stem winder, chronometer balance, visible pallets, Breguet spiral. The movement is a beautiful LeLocle style with ruby jewels in raised gold settings. The movement is marked fast and slow, adjusted and C.Oskamp,Cincinnati. O. No serial number. It lever set with a sliding lever. I will try to get pictures later this week. Jerry Freedman
Hi Jerry, Clemens Oskamp was a prominent jeweler in Cincinnati. Oskamp seems to be a name which pops up a few times in Cincy business history. I am sure you know about the Oskamp Nolting company which was a very large jeweler and jobber in Cincy which, in the watch world is famous for selling the famous private label Illinois watches marked "Ben Franklin." They also sold a lot of watch cases. I can't positively identify a connection between the Clemens Oskamp Jewelry company and Oskamp Nolting but I know Clemens Oskamp started his company much earlier so it sort of makes sense. Anyway, my bet is that your watch is a high grade Swiss ebauche that Oskamp ordered as a movement only and cased it in a beautiful American gold case. I will bet that it looks like either a Patek or a Vacheron or perhaps some other famous maker but has no maker identification. It sounds like a very nice watch. I can't wait to see pix.
Here are pictures; I have seen this movement in a watch marked Tiffany. Could this movement have a chronometer escapement? Jerry Freedman
Looks like a wolf's tooth system on the mainspring and winding gears, but hard to tell given their sizes in the pic. Not used to seeing that in Jurgenson-style movement. Jess Tauber
Hi Jerry, Very pretty, but not a detent, just the usual Swiss lever. You can see the pallet jewels in there. Regards, Graham
Yes, it does have wolf's teeth winding gears. The type of lever setting is also interesting. Jerry Freedman
I'm curious about the photo on the dial. I have two movements myself (both small) that have such photos- one of a middle aged woman (presumably a wife, mother, sister, aunt) and the other with an infant (who presumably had no use for timepieces yet). How were these achieved? And when did they drop in and out of popularity? Jess Tauber
Since the presentation says to my husband, Dec.25, 1877. I surmise it is the wife's picture. The recipient was M. D. Barker. Jerry Freedman
Perhaps Mrs. Barker was trying to remind hubby to be on time for dinner (and not be tempted by all those other evil women out there)... Jess Tauber
Jess, This was done by transferring a gelatin emulsion with a photographic image to the dial. It was done with a positive photographic film. It is seen quite a bit on watches from the late part of the 19th and into the early 20th century.
Thanks, John, for the explanation. Did this technique render such transferred images less stable to wearing off than the legends and numerals? Jess Tauber
These photographs are very delicate and can be damaged. The numerals(and name on dial) are baked into the enamel the photograph is on top of the enamel. Rob
I am still wondering who made the movement. I am also curious about the case maker. The language used to indicate the features of the movement seem to be more Swiss than American. Jerry Freedman
Definitely Swiss. The western part of Switzerland is a French-speaking area, due to a large influx of people escaping from France itself centuries ago after the Knights Templar were massacred by the legal and religious authorities. There might even be some folks who had been Cathars. Jess Tauber
Liquid photographic emulsion, which was painted on dials, the inside of cases and many other places, was made by a company I worked for up until the 1980s, when it was discontinued. After the emulsion was painted on the object , it was exposed using a regular enlarger and then processed like any other photograph. As was mentioned above these photos are extremely delicate and should be handled with great care. They should never be subjected to contact with any liquid.
I am updating this thread. I believe the maker is Leon L. Gallet. (12/31/1832 to 1899. He was running the Gallet firm during the 1870s. Jerry Freedman
Was the same process used for photographs that sometimes appear on cuvettes or inside cases? Thanks! Pat
Here is a photo of a signed Leon L Gallet movement. Compare it with my photo of the Oskamp movement. Jerry Freedman
